17After his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh, that is, the King’s Valley.
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Genesis 14:17:
Kankanaey: “When plural Abram then went-home coming-from their defeating of plural Kedorlaomer and his companion kings, the king at Sodoma went and met (him) at the plain at Save which they also call Plain of Kings.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Newari: “After Abram came [back], having defeated Kedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, he King of Sodom came to meet with him in the Valley of Shaveh. This place is also called ‘King Valley.'” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “When Abram was- now -returning-home, after they defeated Kedorlaomer and his companion kings, he was-met by a king of Sodom at the Valley/Plain of Shave (which is also called the Valley of King).” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “As Abram was returning home after he and his men had defeated the armies of King Chedorlaomer and the other kings who had fought alongside him, the king of Sodom went north to meet him in Shaveh Valley, which people call the King’s Valley.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
Some languages do not have a concept of kingship and therefore no immediate equivalent for the Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Latin that is translated as “king” in English. Here are some (back-) translations:
Ninia Yali: “big brother with the uplifted name” (source: Daud Soesilio in Noss 2007, p. 175)
Nyamwezi: mutemi: generic word for ruler, by specifying the city or nation it becomes clear what kind of ruler (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
Ghomála’: Fo (“The word Fo refers to the paramount ruler in the kingdoms of West Cameroon. He holds administrative, political, and religious power over his own people, who are divided into two categories: princes (descendants of royalty) and servants (everyone else).” (Source: Michel Kenmogne in Theologizing in Context: An Example from the Study of a Ghomala’ Christian Hymn))
Faye Edgerton retells how the term in Navajo (Dinė) was determined:
“[This term was] easily expressed in the language of Biblical culture, which had kings and noblemen with their brilliant trappings and their position of honor and praise. But leadership among the Navajos is not accompanied by any such titles or distinctions of dress. Those most respected, especially in earlier days, were their headmen, who were the leaders in raids, and the shaman, who was able to serve the people by appealing for them to the gods, or by exorcising evil spirits. Neither of these made any outward show. Neither held his position by political intrigue or heredity. If the headman failed consistently in raids, he was superceded by a better warrior. If the shaman failed many times in his healing ceremonies, it was considered that he was making mistakes in the chants, or had lost favor with the gods, and another was sought. The term Navajos use for headman is derived from a verb meaning ‘to move the head from side to side as in making an oration.’ The headman must be a good orator, able to move the people to go to war, or to follow him in any important decision. This word is naat’áanii which now means ‘one who rules or bosses.’ It is employed now for a foreman or boss of any kind of labor, as well as for the chairman of the tribal council. So in order to show that the king is not just a common boss but the highest ruler, the word ‘aláahgo, which expresses the superlative degree, was put before naat’áanii, and so ‘aláahgo naat’áanii ‘anyone-more-than-being around-he-moves-his-head-the-one-who’ means ‘the highest ruler.’ Naat’áanii was used for governor as the context usually shows that the person was a ruler of a country or associated with kings.”
After his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer: in some languages it will be necessary to say where Abram returns; for example, “After Abram defeated Chedorlaomer and the kings, he returned home” or “… returned to where he was living.” Defeat translates the same word translated “subdued” in verses 5 and 7, and “routed” in verse 15. See comments on “subdued” in Gen 14.5. The kings who were with him or “the other kings” is the same expression as used in Gen 14.5. Here again only Chedorlaomer is named among the four kings.
As to the king of Sodom, the narrator does not explain his presence. It may be that in verse 10 he did not die in the tar pit, or that the king of Sodom in this verse is the successor to the one in verse 10. It is also possible that verse 17 comes from a different source than the episode about the tar pits.
Went out to meet him: him may be better translated as “Abram” to avoid confusion. In some languages it will be necessary to know the purpose of this approach by the King of Sodom, in order to choose the right equivalent for meet. Although this is not stated in the text, we can guess that it was to thank or to honor Abram for defeating the enemies and bringing back the loot they had taken. One translation, for instance, says “… the King of Sodom went to give a welcome to him….”
Valley of Shaveh: Valley translates the same word as used in “Valley of Siddim” in verse 10. Shaveh, another word meaning valley (see verse 5), is used here as a proper noun, perhaps because the name was no longer known. (That is, the King’s Valley) is an explanation of Valley of Shaveh. It was in “the King’s Valley” that Absalom set up a memorial stone for himself in 2 Sam 18.18. It is thought to be close to Jerusalem but has not been identified for certain.
The last part of the verse may be translated, for example, “The king of Sodom went to meet Abram in Shaveh Valley, which is also called King’s Valley.”
Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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